Semua Bab Alpha Regrets After Banishing Me And Taking My Son: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Hazel’s POVThe night stretched endlessly before me.I sat in my guest quarters—my prison, really—staring at my reflection in the ornate mirror mounted above the vanity. The gold-leafed frame was elaborate and beautiful, like everything else in this suffocating room.My real face looked back at me. No longer hidden behind Elena’s careful glamour or disguised as the confident hypnotherapist Mila. Just me. Just Hazel. The woman everyone thought was a monster.The silver burns had faded somewhat since the banquet. No longer the angry white blisters that had appeared when the wine first hit my skin. Now they were red marks scattered across my cheeks and forehead, still tender and visible.I raised my trembling hand and traced the marks carefully. The skin beneath was hot and sensitive, each touch sending little sparks of pain radiating outward. This was what everyone had seen when the glamour dissolved.I looked tired, older than my twenty-seven years. The silver burns emphasized the hollo

Elena’s POVThe Thunderstrike Pack border looked different than I remembered from twenty-six years ago, yet it was hauntingly familiar at the same time.The journey here had taken exactly forty-seven hours. I’d counted every one of them, every painful, exhausting hour in the saddle wondering if I’d make it or if my body would finally give out completely.But I was here now. That was what mattered.New fortifications had been built since my time here. The wooden watchtowers I remembered had been replaced with imposing stone structures, three stories tall at least.Everything spoke of preparation for extended conflict. War had changed this place in fundamental ways.But the ancient oak trees remained unchanged. Their gnarled branches reached toward the sky exactly as they had when I had walked beneath them as a young woman of twenty-three.My throat tightened at the sight of them. Those trees had witnessed so many stolen moments, so many whispered promises between Benjamin and me.I coul

Hazel’s POVI didn’t slow down or hesitate, crossing the room in seconds and crashing into her with enough force to make us both stagger backward.My arms wrapped around Elena’s slim frame, and I could feel that she was thinner than before, more delicate, with her ribs prominent through her clothes where I’d never noticed them being so obvious.I buried my face in her shoulder and breathed in that familiar scent that meant safety and home.Elena held me just as tightly, her arms coming around me with surprising strength given how exhausted she looked. One hand came up to cradle the back of my head in that gesture so familiar it made tears spring immediately to my eyes, because she’d done this so many times over the years when I’d needed comfort.“I’m here now,” Elena murmured against my hair. “Everything is going to be alright. I won’t let anyone hurt you again, I promise.”I felt Elena’s body shaking against mine, trembling with what had to be exhaustion or emotion or most likely both

Elena’s POVI was still holding Hazel, still whispering that everything would be alright, when every muscle in my body went rigid.Someone was watching us.I knew that presence. Would know it anywhere, even after twenty-six years of silence. The weight of his stare pressed against my back, familiar and unbearable.My breath caught hard in my throat. Hazel noticed immediately.“What’s wrong?” she asked, pulling back slightly. Her brows drew together.I couldn’t answer. My throat had closed completely. I turned slowly, giving myself time to brace for what I’d see.Benjamin stood at the far end of the entrance hall. One hand gripped the doorframe as if he needed it for support.He’d aged. Of course he had. We both had, but I still recognized him instantly. Silver streaked his temples now. Lines carved deep around his mouth and across his forehead. His shoulders had thickened with the years.But his eyes were the same. Those pale blue eyes that had once looked at me as if I was the only th

Elena’s POV“You’re my daughter,” I repeated. My voice was steadier now despite the tears still streaming down my face. “The pendant proves it. I made it for you before you were born.”Uma stared at me. Her mouth opened and closed. No sound came out.I held the pendant up. My hands still trembled, but I forced them steady enough to show her.“Look at the back,” I said. “There’s an E scratched into it. I put it there myself with a pin. I wanted you to know who you came from.”Uma took the pendant from me with shaking fingers. She squinted at the tiny marking, her lips moving as she traced the letter.“This could be anyone’s initial,” she said faintly. “It could be coincidence.”“It’s not coincidence,” I said firmly. “I commissioned that pendant from a traveling craftsman when I was six months pregnant. I wore it every day until I pressed it into your tiny fist as a blessing before we tried to flee.”I reached out and took Uma’s face in both my hands, gently but firmly.“Look at me,” I s